Lawley said she believed the fashion industry was changing when it came to representing real body types.

"I think the fashion world has to wake up. And I think they are, very slowly," Lawley said on The Sunday Project.

But even she admitted she was prone to feeling intimidated by social media.

"I can feel bad too, after Instagram. So many women, you have no idea how much work they get done," Lawley said.

Kelly Gale in VS mode. Picture: Getty Images for Victoria's Secret

Lawley also spoke out about why she chose not to have corrective surgery on the facial scar she suffered after falling down a staircase in her New York home, landing headfirst.

"I was like if the fashion world doesn't accept me back, I'll focus on bigger more important things," Lawley said.

"I haven't always accepted my body, you know I went through a lot of body hate when I was a teenager.

"I realise now, looking back, on an older perspective that it was all the media, it was everyone telling us that our bodies weren't enough, our bodies weren't good enough."

Stella Maxwell. Picture: Getty Images for Swarovski

Lawley's comments come after reports in the New York Post that viewership of the annual VS show plummeted more than 30 per cent.

The company claims it is still the most watched fashion event in the world and that more people watch it online. It reportedly costs more than $US26.4 million ($A37 million) to produce according to The New York Times.

But the brand has also recently posted declining sales at US locations for seven straight quarters.

Investors in L Brands, the lingerie maker's parent company, are taking a beating as shares are down more than 45 per cent this year - making it the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500.

Company executives have cut prices and extended its sales longer. But it hasn't hleped the brand bounce back in the last two years, as rival companies are now attracting young women.

"Victoria's Secret is an example of a company that thought it was too big to fail," Lingerie Addict editor and founder Cora Harrington told The NY Post.

"I don't think they ever considered that American consumers would go elsewhere."